Dogs For Sale: The Business Of Dog Auctions

Many dog buyers consider a new dog a welcome member of their family. But like a new dog bed or a rawhide bone, dogs are legally considered property. Because dogs are property, they're produced, marketed, bought and sold like other commodities.

It's an $11 billion dollar global industry of dog buying, with America spending the most money. The consumer demand for dogs in the U.S. is around eight million dogs per year. The market has grown to supply about that number of dogs, whether it’s breeders, rescuers, etc. But one little known way dogs filter into system is through dog auctions.

Kim Kavin: A dog auction is like any other auction. Product is brought to the center of the room, people bid on it and the highest bid wins.

Christensen: Where are the biggest dog auctions?

Kavin: The biggest legal dog auction in America is Southwest Auction Services in Wheaton, Missouri. A smaller but also popular auction is Heartland Sales in Cabool, Missouri. Each tends to hold at least one dog auction per month, and their websites have downloadable catalogs where prospective bidders can assess the merchandise, often in alphabetical order by breed: Akitas, Beagles, Cavaliers, Dachshunds and so forth.

Christensen: How many dogs can be auctioned in a day?

Kavin: Hundreds. Many auctions generate six figures of business in a single day; Southwest Auction Service says it has had at least one auction that brought in more than $500,000. Dogs can go for as little as $1 or more than $10,000 apiece.

Christensen: What’s one of the largest purchases at auctions?

Kavin: Breeders and rescuers alike have been known to spend big sums on auction dogs. A single English Bulldog at Southwest Auction Service once went for $12,600, and the auction owner told me he thinks that’s just the start of what’s possible. He wants to see how high he can push the bids by auctioning off a Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show champion.

Deep-pocketed rescuers — those who can raise a lot of money online through sites like GoFundMe — have been known to spend more than $6,000 per dog as well. In 2014, Alabama rescuers raised more than $220,000 from online donors to buy dogs at auction. The purchase was called a “rescue effort” in the media.

Christensen: What happens to money spent at dog auctions?

Kavin: All of the money, minus the auctioneer’s cut, goes into the pockets of the sellers, who are usually commercial-scale breeders — sometimes the same exact breeders that groups including the ASPCA and Humane Society of the United States want to see shut down because they also do business with pet stores nationwide. It’s a twisted tangle of cash, to be sure, directly linking the breeding and rescue sides of the dog industry.